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Our
adventures in the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus continue....
  
Arie's last day and the weather looks as if it is changing a little, still very warm, but clouds all around so maybe now that November is finally with us we can start preparing for some less warm days.
Arie and I went down to Kyrenia this morning so that he could do some shopping for his kids. We had been talking about the cheap replica watches available here so took him to one of these shops down near the harbour. He now sports a Rolex Oyster on his own wrist, but also managed to buy a very sensible looking watch for his 10 year old lad, Michael. Samantha, at almost 14, is getting a very nice silver armband and a CD of some girlie band, so guess that Arie might be forgiven, for having a holiday without them.
This afternoon we all three went down to Friends beach, here in Lapta, but the sea was quite rough and we do occasionally get some undertow around this area, so common sense prevailed and we avoided the water. After dinner, it was an early night all round as tomorrow morning is a 4 a.m. start for Larnaca airport.
Sort of back to work day, after the early run to Larnaca. George very kindly took us through, as Joan and I have to renew our insurance to cross the border and for sure there was not going to be an insurance office open at that time of the morning. Planning on a fairly quiet week so its going to be difficult to find things to tell you folks out there.Final note for the day, take a look at thisevening sky, just in case you don't believe that we also get some inclement weather here. It's just that we get less of it
Knew that there would be something that would pop up and be of interest. I frequently get asked, what sort of money should we bring over on holiday and what about banking over there. Well the first is very easy, just bring a little UK cash to see you through the first day or so and then use the cash machines and your debit card to draw out Turkish Lira as you need it. Only suggestion about this is, don't be frightened by all the zeros on our money. If you draw 100 million or 600 million then your UK bank will charge you the same, at least that is what Barclays does to us.Banking over here is something else and almost one hour in the queue today, was what prompted me to talk about this, although I have to admit that there are notices saying they are installing a new computer system, which could account for long delays. There is an H.S.B.C. bank here, which many English seem to go rushing to, but it is only a franchise operation and doesn't make the banking any easier and from what I hear they charge the same rates for transactions as in UK, so think about it and make some enquiries first. I have even heard that some of the UK branches don't even know that it exists over here. The one major advantage for many is that they have an experienced UK bank lady, currently living over here and working for them, so no language problems. Firstly, you can have bank accounts in Sterling, US dollars and or Turkish Lira and you can have either current and or deposit accounts. So far no change you might say. It is the procedures that are different. There is masses of paperwork for every transaction, so everything takes time and we still have little handwritten bank books, just like back in the 50's. We keep a sterling account for payment of insurance premiums etc and top this up by writing a cheque on our UK account as needed, but we draw T.L. cash from the hole in the wall for day to day needs. What you have to remember is that it can take 3/4 weeks for UK cheques to clear, so you need to plan ahead with your accounts. You can have an additional sterling deposit account, which pays a higher interest rate than in UK and you only pay 6% tax on the interest. The interesting one is the Turkish Lira deposit account, which currently pays 16% for a monthly renewal and slightly more for longer term deposits. So transferring some of your sterling capital over to T.L. can produce an interesting income source on a monthly basis, also if you are brave you can also play the money market by buying T.L. when the rate is high and selling back to the bank when the rate falls, any money made doing this, is of course, not liable to tax. The computer systems are not very sophisticated, so you do have to go to the bank on more or less the appointed days, for monthly deposit accounts. The thing that strikes you more than anything else here, is no bullet proof glass panels between you and the cashiers, people walking in and out with wads of money, cash drawers wide open just over the counter, maybe that's part of what being here is all about, but don't be in a rush, go with the pace of life, that is what it is really all about. Try not to force them into the 21st century, always remember why you wanted to be here in the first place.Oh yes, having gone on a bit about all that, we took George and Susan out to that "Beyız" restaurant as a sort of thank you for the early morning Larnaca run with Arie. They confirm our opinion that it is very good and very cheap. How to find it is something else, the only sensible thing I can say is that it is in the area known locally as tin-pan alley. Turn down the road marked city centre, next to Cyprus Pools, keep on going until you reach the 1001 shop and then turn right. At the top of this road, turn right again, pass all the metal work shops and you will find the restaurant on the left at the end of this road
Yesterday was Roger-B's birthday, our resident musician at the now famous Deano's and also a friend of ours. So Joan decided that it was a good excuse to throw a birthday party. The terms were, eat your dinner before you come, I will supply nibbles to go with the drinks she said, so around 7 p.m. about 10 more of the Lapta Layabouts turned up and we had a great evening. We parked George near the CD player with a load of background music but still we had to keep reminding him of his duties. You can't get the staff you know, or maybe it was the beer !!!! Michael and Barbara currently have visitors, Brian and Pat, soon to be joining the layabout gang when their house is ready, so they came to, maybe they needed some advance warning of what is awaiting them
Today I was finally involved in trying to put the kitchen white goods into Owen & Sue Lelou's villa in Karsiyaka. This house has potentially been ready for some 3/4 months and I have been into the builders office on many occasions to see when the electric is to be installed and always they have been told by the electric authority, next Friday. But true to form, Friday never comes. This seems to be a general problem at this time, the utility companies cannot keep up with the pace of development and I actually heard today that they have run out of electric meters and cannot say for sure when more will be arriving. It was therefore no real surprise to find that Owen and Sue's villa was actually hard wired in at the meter cupboard with no meter in sight. I hate to think how they are going to estimate electricity usage over the next few months.I am telling you all this, so that all you people, awaiting the final completion may understand the problems over here and not always put blame on your Estate Agents and or Builders. Always remember that the agent you bought through, actually acts for the vendor, in this case the builder and he is often dependant on outside bodies. Often the builder will tell you that the house is completed and it is from his point of view, there just isn't any water or electric connected, I have seen four such properties during the last week alone
I am preparing these diary notes around 8.30 a.m., just after Joan has left for school, the sun is shinning and there are a few clouds around and that is one hell of a change from the last two days. On Monday we had constant thunder and lightening rolling around us, it appeared to be all out at sea in the direction of Turkey. This continued all night and then yesterday around midday we got well and truly dumped on. Black as the ace of spades, lots more thunder and lightening and then a torrent of water sweeping in from the Karpaz direction, all along the mountain and heading off to the west. Maybe that's it for a few more weeks and on the plus side I don't have to water the garden for some little while.
Guess what, I spoke too soon. Around 10 p.m. yesterday evening it started to go very, very black again and then the thunder and lightening started. It rumbled around all night and even made both he cats take refuge in their basket in our bedroom. This morning it looked pretty serious and then once again it really came down with a vengeance. Here in Lapta we did not suffer too much, the water seemed to manage to get away, but many areas of the North had it pretty bad, with some severe flooding causing road closures and some damage to shops and other business's due to flooding. There is an article in the newspaper criticising the authorities about the lack of investment in sewerage systems, which in many ways is true, but the counter to that is all the litter and works debris that the people just sweep down the drains without consideration to the future problems they are causing. Litter is a major problem over here and a process of education is probably the only way round it, as well as investment in the infrastructure.
The logical conclusion to all these storms, was the inevitable power cuts. Maybe it's time to start thinking about buying a generator to take care of this problem.
This evening we finally got an evening out with Derek and Sandra, our friends from Lardy Dars Tearooms. We had been sort of promising one another to play catch up for some time, but they have been so busy during the summer time that we have not had a chance. Added to this they have also moved house at the end of last month so that gave them even less time to socialise.
We went to the newish Jessic restaurant along the seafront here in Lapta were the food was good, but now it is winter, there is not much atmosphere in an almost empty restaurant. Personally I found the prices to be at tourist rates, in other words a bit steep for the locals.
The start of a long weekend for Joan as today is the end of Ramadan and the fasting period for the locals. This is accompanied by a two day holiday for the locals, which of course includes the schools etc. Looks like a weekend of getting things done in and around the garden, ready for the winter coming on, some heavy pruning and cutting back is needed now that the growing season has come to an end. Having said that the roses are still in full bloom, they never seem to stop, but I fear that if we don't give them a serious cut back soon, they will start to look a bit tatty.
We had an early dinner so that we could nip out to Ercan airport and pick up Fiona, who is over for a week to discuss some things with the builder. Also she very kindly packed my new keyboard in her suitcase so that at last, I will not have to contend with all these extra vowels etc on my Turkish keyboard. So if some of you have had some rather strange e-mails from me, then now you know the reason why. Hopefully I will be able to make my two finger typing hit the right keys in future.
Yesterday wasGeorge and Susan's 33rd wedding anniversary so this evening they had decided tocelebrate with friends. Susan wanted to start the party around 5 p.m. as an afternoon tea and had promised us cucumber sandwiches with the crusts cut off, so that's what we got, but true to form with lots of other goodies. She makes an absolutely fabulous, date and walnut cake so guess I'm going to have to try to sneak a doggy bag, if the gannets don't get to it first
For those of you who ask about the temperatures out here, you should note that even at around 9 p.m. we were all still sitting around on the terrace andenjoying the party. It is now time to dig out the sweaters for these November evenings but it is still very pleasant. Joan and I remember that the first time we ever came here was in 1996, around mid November, it was exactly the same. It goes coldish as soon as the sun goes down, then an hour or so later the temperature seems to rise again and makes for a very pleasant evening outside still.
Anyway thanks for a great party George and Susan and as we approach Christmas I suppose we will organise a few more between us. Any old excuse, but then do we really need an excuse. Most of you out there will probably say NO.
Well these are supposed to be two holiday days for Joan, as it is the end of Ramadan and the locals are allowed to eat and drink again at any time of the day. Traditionally this is a time when visiting family is the order of the day and therefore the two days holiday have always been welcomed. For us, in between the heavy rain showers, it was time to get into the garden and get the muck off the cars. Because of the heavy rolling thunder all the time, our cats decided that the only safe place was in their basket in a sort of"We want to be together" mode and when the evening came the other warm place wason Joan's lap, where it was nice and warm. Proof that these two have for sure got it together and just enjoy each others company. Clearly we were right to get a mate for Tiggy.
The forecast for us was not that brilliant, so we decided to get in the car and go and take a look at Limassol. Good move, as when we got down south it was 26 degrees and definitely shorts weather. We had never been to Limassol before so where able to explore a little alongthe seafront area and even into the old town. Much of the place has been very heavily developed but there are still some areas where it was possible to see how it might have been in the past. Naturally we took a walk around some of the shopping areas, as we are still looking for those illusive universal stands for our speakers. Joan found the old M & S and managed to find a winter sweater, that she declared would be very suitable for going to school in.We did notice that in many areas the shops were looking a little run down, or had even closed up. It looked very much as if rapid expansion had taken place, too many of the same shops chasing the same money and something had to give. Shame really, but lets hope future development on this side of the island, doesn't result in the same situation in years to come
This evening, around 6.30, we had another power cut, so made the decision to go out somewhere to eat. We picked Deano's, because it's quite near, the food is good and it isn't too busy, midweek and at this time of the year. We had almost finished our meal when in walked Anne & Jeff Lloyd. We knew they were due over from UK as they had e-mailed, but expected them to be chasing the builder around first and then maybe contacting us. It was nice to see them again and to hear that they had kindly brought over some goodies for us and some nice soft velvet flea collars for the cats, something we are still not able to get here.Anyway they are going to come to Deano's on Friday evening and also join the gang at the Cancer Charity Dinner on Saturday. Good to keep swelling the numbers and the charity funds
This evening we had Fiona over for dinner. It's her last night, before going back to UK so we felt she might enjoy a change from restaurant food. An alternative ploy was to ask her to take all our Xmas cards back with her and post them, in a couple of weeks time, in UK. This has, in the past, proved much safer than posting from here. So if you don't get a card by mid December it probably means we have either forgotten you or you aren't on our list, or alternativelyJoan's little helper sat on the list. Will just send out a general internet card on the site nearer the time, for one and all, that way you won't be saying they don't care any more !!!!Hope you had a safe journey home, Fiona
This morning Joan and I went over to the south again, Roger B and Jill came over with us to do some quick shopping. Our reason for going was because the man in the electric shop had been promised some speaker stands by last Thursday. Oh no not again, still not available, so we will need to go again. We have got a phone number for the shop, but the problem is that it is not always possible to call to the Greek side.This eveninga whole gang of us went to the annual Cancer Charity dinner, held at The Chateau Lambousa hotel. We had organised a table of 14 of us all together as it is all in a good cause. The evening was made up of dinner of course, an auction of donated items, a raffle and some dancing towards the end. The dinner was good but service a little slow, they seemed to have trouble coping with around 140 people. This meant that things like the auction were running a little late, butMichael enjoyed himself between two roses andGeorge got to hear how it should be organised ! All in all a good evening and the organisers have raised around £5,500 for the charity, a great effort. I even managed to by a 10,000 mile service for my car, donated by Tasas Ltd. A bargain at £30
Well the weather has changed very quickly this year. It has gone really cold in the evenings and we have the log fire burning to warm the place up. It really is a lovely sight a nice burning log fire and thecats seem to enjoy it immensely. Added to this it has started to rain quite heavily, from time to time, so I am very glad I built that log box out on the terrace.Spent the last couple of days decorating our bedroom, not that it really needed it, but we have had the air conditioning unit taken out and put into the guest room and that left a couple of holes that need repair and paint. Why have we had it taken out you ask, well, Joan and I find that if you leave it on all night, with windows etc closed, your throat dries up from constant use. So this summer we had mosquito blinds put into the windows, ceiling fans installed and slept with the windows open. It suited us much better, so now any guests can have the air conditioner on if they wish.This evening, Ann & Jeff Lloyd, having a house built in Karsiyaka, came round for dinner. They are going back to UK tomorrow morning so we felt it would be a nice change for them not to have to go to a restaurant on their last evening. Like us, they are cat lovers and could not get over the winter snuggle bed that we have and how the cats just curl up together in front of the fire. We bought this snuggle bed about 10 years ago, from a UK catalogue and it has always been a firm winter favourite, with the added advantage that you can just shove it in the washing machine and then put it away for all summer
For those of you who may be interested, I have spent most of today, doing an inventory of the house contents as our insurance is due for renewal. I have found two companies who are offering good policies and, most importantly, in English, so when I get the quotes I will let you all know which seems best.Would you believe it. Got three walls second coated and then ran out of paint. Unfortunately we bought the paint in the south last Saturday, because you can't buy good paint such as Dulux here. The fortunate bit is, Stewart and Barbara, our next door neighbours, are going over shopping tomorrow, so are going to get an extra can for me, so it looks like a Friday finish for me. Joan and Barbara spent all afternoon in Kyrenia, looking for new curtain material for the bedroom, but with no success, so guess we will have to go to Kyrenia on Saturday. Joan insists that now the air con. unit has gone it would look much better if we had wider curtains in our bedroom. Who am I to argue about these things ?Also we got the Sunny Lane School website uploaded today, so for those of you who are considering coming over with younger children, take a look atwww.sunnylaneschool.net" target="_blank">www.sunnylaneschool.net">www.sunnylaneschool.net . We still have to make some final adjustments and change some of the pictures, but basically it's all there for you to see
Last night we all tried a new Friday night watering hole. The Aeria Bar, here in Lapta. It was very nice and new, very comfortable, apart that is from the cold and very reasonably priced. The owner did do his best, when he saw lots of us arrive, to get the log fire burning much more, but I think he was fighting a losing battle against this sudden cold snap we are experiencing.Yes folks, its official. This month has been declared the coldest November for 20 years and twice this week we have had snow falling on the mountains above Karaman. According to the newspapers we had a measured depth of 20 cm up around St Hilarion Castle. Now unless I'm very much mistaken, we came here to enjoy the Mediterranean sunshine. Brrrrrr. Joan and I want to issue a formal vote of thanks to Peter and Averil Davies, who brought that electric blanket over for us, last month. Be warned and pack one in your containers if you are planning to be out here for the winters
The insurance business has consumed lots of time over the last few days, but have finally reached a satisfactory conclusion.Some of you may recall, that back in the days when we lost the gazebo, we had an argument with our insurers, which were also the bankers we use. They finally refused to pay out, as the gazebo was not attached to the house and was only under construction when they inspected the house 2 years ago. They argued that we had not informed them of the addition and we argued that as the policy was in Turkish, we did not understand the need. So despite the fact that we had written twice asking for an English version, they still refused to pay out. You might imagine that they were not going to get repeat business again!!We had identified two Insurance Companies that were recommended by other users, so asked both to quote. They both wanted detailed lists of contents but in a different format and strangely enough both came up with a premium, which was within £9.00 of each other. We finally settled for a company called Başak Sigorta. We picked this one for a number of reasons but mainly we think because they were a mainland Turkish company of some financial standing, they took the trouble to translate the policy conditions into English before we even signed up, they gave cover for jewellery, which many other companies wanted additional premiums for and even gave some cover for goods which we might take away with us, such as digital cameras, laptops etc. This was all in addition to some of the standards on the policy, such as glass cover, cover for our pool pumping equipment, electronic equipment at replacement value etc., all in all we felt a good policy and as near as you are ever going to get to a competitive English company. Obviously the premium depends on the value of your property and contents etc., so I am not going to give our premium value, it's irrelevant, but suffice to say if you want the contact I will be happy to pass it on for you andNO, I'm not getting commission, I have mentioned this website to them and hopefully they might agree to advertise in the near future, which will get some of our premium money back.
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